Um, you were there at three thirteen, you left at three thirty-three, but her heart rate went to zero at three twenty-eight What can I tell you? I have no way to ever tell you anything This is Anthony Aiello. He is ninety years old. In twelve days he will be arrested for murder. In a year he will be dead in a county jail, and he will never be convicted of anything. This is the morning he had no idea. just to make sure. Absolutely. Okay. I understand Two clocks. A doorbell camera across the street from his stepdaughter's house, and the fitness watch on her wrist. They disagree with him by twenty minutes. By the end of this tape he has to explain those twenty minutes to two homicide detectives, and he tries ten different ways. I loved her to death You might have loved her to death, but whatever you did led to her death "Oh, Amber, do you know where she is? Can you go check on her?" I said, "Yeah." I said, "Oh," I said, "I will go now." Karen Navarra was sixty-eight. She had been a pharmacy technician at the same San Jose hospital for forty-five years. She lived alone with her cats in a single-storey house on Terra Noble Way, a few blocks from her mother. She was, by every account, private, careful, and never late. On Wednesday the twelfth of September she did not come to work. Nobody could remember that happening before. Okay, so she didn't come to work yesterday. Mm-hmm. And did you try to call her, um- Uh, my coworkers. I mean, of course I- Okay, but you-- but just you? No, no, Okay, that's fine. No. So you came over here today just to kinda check up on her, yeah? Yes, I first tried to call her from my home. Today? Today, yes. Okay. So just maybe an- What time did you try call? So when you came here- Mm-hmm ... so you tried calling at about five. You got here about nine-- uh, I'm sorry, about five. You got here about five fifteen. Yeah. About. Pretty close, yeah. Yeah. And then did you see anything unusual about her? instead of coming here, I went to that house, and I was, I parked there. And then I said, "Hey, wait a minute. That's not the house." Mm-hmm. "This is the house." So I came here, and I asked the neighbor before I entered the house- Mm-hmm ... if he could help me. Mm-hmm. But, but he seemed, like, in a rush, so he said, "Sorry, ma'am, I cannot," and then he drove. Okay. Yeah. Was the front door open? No, not at that time. It wasn't. Was it locked? It wasn't locked. It was unlocked. It was unlocked, okay. Nothing in- But it wasn't open. Unlocked. So I- But closed. But closed, yes. Okay. And so I ti... I mean, I got worried 'cause I was banging on the door, and I was saying, "Karen." Sure. "Karen, Karen." And then I found out, you know, yes, the door was unlocked, so I went in. Karen What she found inside is in the police report. None of it is on this tape yet. So you were banging on the door and did you walk into the house? Yes. Okay. That's how I found out that she was in her- And that you saw her. I saw her and I couldn't... Did you touch her at all? No, I didn't, I didn't even get closer to her. So you just saw her and you immediately called 911? Yes, yes, 'cause I mean, I work in medical field and some- my sixth sense said something is not wrong rather than trying to... And honestly, I could see her slight, her face and everything you know, I don't know exactly. It, it, it looks like it was self-inflicted, but I, I can't tell. It, it appears self-inflicted, but my partners did focus on the investigating inside the house. We'll have a coroner come by, um, do a more thorough investigation. That's why I'm asking you all these questions No, no, no. Just, just because it's- I'm here, I'm here 24/7. Whatever help I can give You were the first one, so who knows? Maybe there's a detail, anything that, you know... Do you know if she had any, um, any enemies? I know, uh- Any- No, she is, she had no siblings, uh- That is what it looked like from the doorway. Karen was slumped in a wooden dining chair with her head back over it. There was a kitchen knife in her right hand. Drawers had been pulled open in the bedroom and the dining room, two chairs were on their side, and there was a pizza on the counter, wrapped in foil, with pieces of it on the floor. On the floor by the front door was a torn slip of brown paper with the house number written on it. To the first officers it read as a suicide. The next morning the medical examiner would say something else. Her skull was fractured in several places, the wounds were deep, and some of them would have stopped her instantly. Nobody does that to themselves. The weapon, he wrote, was most likely something with a sharpened edge, like a small hatchet. Was she struggling with depression perhaps that you know of or- She, she lived alone. She had a couple of cats in there. Mm-hmm. Uh, but, uh, she didn't seem like a depressed person to me. Okay. She was showing to work. She was taking care of things. She loved, uh, uh, plants You know, on the off chance that anyone needs follow-up info Uh, all I know is her parents, she one time she needed something. Her parents also lived very close. Okay. Her dad passed away a couple of years ago, so her, uh, mother remarried. Mm-hmm. And she always had very good words for her step Got it. And you said you were coworkers for 27 years? Yes Twenty-seven years beside her at the pharmacy counter, and she had never once seen her miss a shift. Karen's father had died a couple of years earlier. Her mother had remarried, a long time ago, and lived a few blocks away with her husband. He was ninety. The next morning at twenty to eleven, two patrol officers are standing by outside Karen's house, waiting for the detectives. A man walks up the street. Adele's husband. Karen, her daughter. Oh, your, your husband? Her mother's husband. Mother's husband, okay. Yeah, we live right here. And when I came to pick up the mail- Oh, okay ... well, the lady was at the house a while ago. My name is Tony Ayala by the way. Tony? Okay. Yeah, she just left. Okay. I'm gonna make-- I'm gonna check the mail. Okay. Yeah, we're gonna, we're gonna leave everything the way it is for now, and then maybe, um, you know, you can come back la- maybe later on tonight or something, um, 'cause the detectives might need just, just to make sure. Absolutely. Okay. I understand. Yeah. I've been around. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. But mostly their mail, then, uh, we're not gonna come away for any reason anyway, so. Yeah. He came for her mail. The coroner has just left. The police are on her lawn. He introduces himself, and they tell him he can come back for it later tonight. I've been around, he says. Then they ask him the only question anyone will ask him for the next twelve days. And then you guys haven't come inside the house at all, right? No. No? Okay. All right. Just, just- You know. Okay. Uh, do you have- When's the last time you saw her? Friday. I brought her pizza and cookies. What time was that, sir? I think it was around 3:00, like I told that lady over there. Yeah. Okay. I was here about, usually not that long, but five minute, 10 minutes, that's about it. Friday. Pizza and cookies. Around three. Five minutes, ten minutes. He is not a suspect. He is the stepfather, on the street where his stepdaughter died, being helpful. Do you know if there's anybody else that would've been here, uh, after you? Like anyone else who would've came for an errand, to bring her- I don't. No, The only thing I know there was, I was, I was outside in my yard in the, the house there, and I saw her go by. She came to the... Oh, in fact, when I brought the pizza, she said, "Oh good, thank you. I was gonna have a pizza party with my friends." When and when did you see her drive by? About a little after 5:00. 5:00 PM. Out of my house, yeah. When, when was that? What day? Same day, Friday. Same day Friday. When I brought the pizza, yeah. Okay. And then, um- I didn't know who it was. Blew the, the horn, and I turned around and said, "Oh." Okay. This you? Okay. All right, here's- And there it is, on day one, the second half of his story. Later that same afternoon, a little after five, she drove past his house, honked, and waved. Keep that. It is going to matter. At one thirty-six that afternoon, two homicide detectives sat down at his kitchen table. There is no camera in the kitchen. There is a recorder. Hi, Anthony. How are you? Hello, sir. How are you? Oh, not bad for your age, kid. Yeah. Sergeant Montany. Mike Montany. I'm Anthony Aiello. Nice to meet you. Detective Brian Meeker. Nice to meet you. My pleasure, sir. Nice to meet you. My wife will be right out. She's in the bathroom. Very good, sir. You know where you're gonna sit? We're lying right here. Perfect. All right. You can sit on the table in the kitchen over there. Okay. Right there? Okay. Perfect. Make ourselves at home. I'll sit around. Very well. Sure. Please. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, right there. Thank you for your hospitality, sir Oh, I got a correction to make. I told my sergeant, the sergeant and the lady there- Yes ... that I brought the pizza over there Friday, but my wife just corrected me, said, "No, it was Saturday." Saturday. Saturday. That is the first correction. Not Friday. Saturday, the eighth. His wife made him say it. Karen's mother, Adele, was ninety-two, and she was sitting at that table. And did she say what she was gonna do on Saturday and Sunday? Was she going somewhere or- She said she was having company Saturday night. Saturday night, okay. Yeah. Did she say who that was with? No, she talked to Tony. I don't know. And when I brought her the pizza and the cookies over there, she goes, "Oh, boy, we got pizza. We're gonna have a party with my friends." And that's all. That's all we know. Okay. Who they were or if they came, I have no idea. And that was Saturday? That was, yeah. I was mistaken. I thought it was Friday, but I was Yeah, was Saturday when he- It was Saturday ... he was over So were... You guys are both sure it was definitely on Saturday? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And I ca- called her before he went over there to make sure she was gonna Because at the time- ... ... at the same time well, I was supposed to go over Friday with that pizza, and then it would be for Saturday. Yeah, he, didn't want to go. That was the 8th. I'm sorry. The 8th. Saturday, yeah. The 28th. So Tony, you said that you brought over pizza and cookies on the 8th. Uh-huh. Do you remember about what time it was? Around, about, right about 3:00, wasn't it? Yeah, it was in the afternoon sometime. So Saturday the 8th. Yeah. About 3:00 PM. Somewhere in there. Um, you brought over pizza and cookies. Uh-huh. What did the pizza... What... Was it in a box? Was it in a container? Me, I cut it away with a scissor- No, I meant you ... but what she want... Oh, she was, she was, that's a new style to cut the pizza instead with a knife. I say, "That's easier." Honey, do you have any idea how many pieces there were total? No, I don't. It was like that. Oh, okay. That's okay. We'll figure it out. We can help you there. Mm-hmm. Um- Double, two plate, two paper plates and a foil. So there was nobody else that was there when you got there? No. Did she mention that she was gonna have anybody over? So Tony, getting back to that Saturday, um- Sorry about the mixed up days. That's okay. That's all right. That's okay. We just want... That's why we're here, to make absolutely sure. Oh, absolutely. on Saturday specifically, um, when you talked to her, did you think she was just playing around about having k- friends over? Was it like, "Hey, I got pizza. I can call over everybody"? Or was it like, "Hey, this is- No, just normal ... this is gonna be for my friends that are coming over"? Nothing, Yeah. nothing excited about it. I mean, she was a little, you know, "Oh, we're gonna have a pizza with my friends." "Good," she goes. Honey, did it sound like they were really coming? It was something she'd already planned? She said she was waiting for them. Okay. That's what we're trying, yeah. Okay. So she expected- And so I went for the- ... somebody to come over ... okay, yeah, she was expected friends or whatever they were. Okay. She didn't say what time that was gonna be? No. But it was gonna be that evening? Oh, when she come by, is I was outside and she come, somebody blow a horn. As I turn around, it was her. She give me the thumb, you know. What, what day was that? Saturday. Saturday. Not that, not that I've been corrected. Yeah. It's gonna- No Friday. It's Saturday. Okay. So that was Saturday after you had dropped off the pizza. A little after 5:00. I was outside. Which direction was she going? That way. She was going down toward Piedmont? Yeah. Okay. And there was a person on the other side which y- you can't tell whether it was a he or she or... Okay. But there was definitely one other person in the car with her. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. So she drove by, honked. Yeah. And there was definitely a person. Did the other person wave? Huh? He made the pizza himself, and the biscotti. He kept three slices and took the rest over on a paper plate under foil. She was excited, she ate a piece, she said she was having friends over that night. He stayed, he told them, about fifteen minutes. Then he went home. Then the honk, a little after five. What he did not know is that by the time he said any of this, the detectives already had two things. A neighbour across the street had a doorbell camera. And the coroner had taken something off Karen's wrist. This channel is the tapes, all of them, in order. If you want to hear what a ninety-year-old man says when they put his stepdaughter's heartbeat on the table in front of him, subscribe, because that is the next half hour. Start with the camera. It belongs to a house on Noble Avenue, across from Karen's driveway, and it only records when something moves. At two fifty-eight that Saturday afternoon the driveway is empty. At three twelve a small dark-gray car is in it. It is there at three fourteen, three nineteen, three twenty-one, and three thirty-three. By three thirty-five it is gone. The police report describes it as similar in design to a Toyota Corolla. Adele Aiello owned a gray two thousand and seven Corolla. Her husband drove it everywhere. So the car was there for at least twenty-one minutes. Not five. Not ten. Not fifteen. Now the watch. Karen wore a Fitbit, the kind that counts your steps and reads your pulse through the skin. Every fifteen minutes it copied itself to the computer on her desk, a few feet from where she was sitting. The crime lab could not read it, so the detectives got a warrant and sent it to the company. Fitbit's own security director pulled the record. On Saturday the eighth of September her heart rate spiked at three twenty. Then it slowed, fast. At three twenty-eight it stopped. The step counter never moved again until the coroner lifted her out of the chair five days later. Three twelve, the car arrives. Three twenty, her heart races. Three twenty-eight, it stops. Three thirty-three, the car is still in the driveway. The detectives had the camera by the weekend. They had the watch by the twentieth: a judge signed the warrant on the nineteenth, Fitbit's director of brand protection took custody of it the same day, and his report came back the next morning. Both systems, the detective will tell him later, were on internet time. Neither of them can be argued with, and neither of them knew the other existed. And the honk. The detectives pulled a second camera, further down Noble, pointed at the road. Karen's car never passes it that afternoon. Nobody drove by his house a little after five. He does not know about the second camera. He will not find out for another twelve days. Let me see your keys. All right, turn around. Turn around. Turn around. Wait, wait, wait. What is it? Hold on, hold on. You're being detained right now, okay? For what? Have everybody else, uh- What happened to- ... go for 10-10. Okay, copy. Copy. No weapons or anything on you, sir? No, I got a radio and my, my wallet. Okay. What's, what's happening? Um, the case officer here's gonna explain to you what's going on, okay? Okay. We'll have him, uh, talk to you here in a second. This is, uh, I don't know. A judge signed the warrant the day before. The unit that served it is the one the department sends when it does not want to be seen coming. I started. That's okay You'll be all right there, nice and loose. I've been groomed before. Sir, can I get you some water or something? I'll appreciate it. Okay, I'll get you some water. All right. Okay. There you go. Thank you. Go ahead and you can have a seat right over there actually. That sounds good. Yeah. And then, uh, they'll be right back with you. Okay? You betcha. All right, have a good one. You too, thank you. All right, I'll get that water for you, okay? Just hang tight. Thank you. What's going on? Here you go. Thank you, sir. Like I said, knock on the door if you need anything, if you need a restroom break or- I just read the sign. That's it, yep. you need anything, they'll be right with you. Okay? Okay. Thank you so much. Oh, that blame me? Are you kidding me? You come in. How you doing? Good to see you. What the hell am I doing here? I'm gonna explain it to you shortly. Well, you do. Would you like a cup of coffee? I do not. No, no. One cup of coffee in the morning is all for me. Okay. No more? No coffee? No, no, that's it. Okay. We're gonna come back in and we're gonna talk to you here shortly. Yeah. We'll explain- You don't want any coffee? You're okay with water? I had a sip of water. You're good? Okay. All right. Perfect. We'll be back in just a minute. We'll be back, okay? Okay. Thank you. Sir? Uh, I'm gonna order some burrito- Homicide Unit, San Jose Police Department. Sergeant Montonye and Detective Meeker again, the two men from his kitchen table. He is offered coffee, water, and a burrito. Then they read him his rights. Hey, Tony, I'm gonna have to read you something here. Sure. Um, but I wanna do it close so make sure if you can't hear me, you can at least see it. Yeah, I got you. Have you ever heard of, uh, Miranda, Miranda rights? Yeah. Okay. So I'm gonna read some stuff, and I want you to listen to it, and you can read along with me. You can read English, right? Very- A little. A little bit? So we'll just, uh... I'll, I'll read it out loud to you, and then you can kinda read along and then answer the questions. Okay? These are called your Miranda rights, okay? 'Cause you're in, in here with us. We're gonna ask you questions and you're in custody. Absolutely. Okay? You got, you got brought in in handcuffs- Yeah ... so we have to go through this. Okay, 'cause you're considered in custody, so okay? Sure, yeah. Yeah. I don't know. All right. You ready? So if you can read along right here. Just... Can you see it? No, I can't see that. You can't see it without your glasses? It's all right. Move your head back. You can read it to me. Okay. It's okay. You have the right to remain silent. Do you understand? Okay. Do you understand that? I understand that. Okay. Miranda rights. So I've, I've been guilty of something? No. For the first half hour they let him talk. How he met Adele. The roses. Then I asked her, I said, "Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me?" You know. She goes, "Where?" "At my house." And she said, "No." "At my house?" "Yeah." "Okay." She said, "When can I come over?" "About 7:00." "Okay, 7:00." I went and got me some two dozen of roses, a bouquet, you know? I brought the roses and we had coffee. That's how we started. Smart man. That's the way to do it. Flowers always- Two dozen roses, forty years ago, for a widow who became his wife. Hold on to the roses too. They come back. Okay. So there was two people in that car? So d- d- you're saying that they honked at you? Well, they honked at me or whatever they did when I, when I'm up because I've got, I figure it could've been Karen that I borrowed the beads and all that, you know? Yeah. But then right after that, I seen a family coming up the sidewalk Well, the, I'm just concerned, I just wanna make absolutely sure because the la- It looked like her. Like I said, every time I see a white car, Karen in my mind. 'Cause the last time we had talked, you said that she honked and she waved- Yeah, ... she waved and you said it was Karen, and then you told us that you saw somebody else in the car. Yeah, on the other side. Just the back of it Just curious if she got up with a pizza in her hand or what? I have no idea whether she went with my card or she had him in her hand or whatever, you- Okay. But she definitely walked you to the door and she- Oh, she came back ... Did you hear the door lock? She walked me to the door. That is the first time he says it in this room. Count them. By the end of the day he will have said it ten times. Hey, Tony, I took a look at your wallet 'cause it was out here. Anytime we bring people in, put their property out here. Oh, oh, that's fine. You have some keys in your wallet They have been through his wallet. They have his keys. He does not ask why. Now the first clock. Fortunately for us, Karen Street has a lot of, uh, video cameras out in front of houses. Oh. There's one in, on the street that shows your car parked in the driveway. Now, the first time that it shows is right about 3:13 on the 8th. Would that be consistent with y- the time that you believe that you got there? Saturday the 8th. You know, I don't know. But I don't watches. Okay. Okay. If that's what it shows. It, it shows- That's what I said ... it shows a dark gray car parked in the driveway, and it's the same shape, model as your wife's. 'Cause you drove that car over there, right? All the time. So I was looking at it, and it shows 3:13 in the afternoon on Saturday. That I got there. That you were there, okay. It also shows that car leaving at 3:33. Okay, so you're there for about 20 minutes. The same car, that same day that you said that you were over there. So that was at 3:33. Now, I'm no, I'm no math wizard, but that tells me you were there for about 20 minutes, which is fine. Like I said, I have no way to prove it to you. I don't. Okay. But you would agree with me when I say nobody was with you? No. You left. She walked out to the door with you and closed the door, and you walked and you left. That's consistent with what the video shows. That's all fine. Which is fine. Listen to how gently he puts the first clock down. Twenty minutes instead of five, and the detective agrees with him that it does not matter. It matters because of the second clock. Do you know if Karen wore a watch? I don't. I will tell you this. When we found Karen, Karen was wearing what's called a Fitbit. Do you know what a- What's that? Do you know what a Fitbit is? Okay. A Fitbit, you've probably heard about it. It's like a watch. It has the same functions as a watch. It tells you the date and time. But with technology and the way it's working today, a lot of people wanna try to stay fit and stay active, right? Oh, sure. Okay. Well, the Fitbit is designed to monitor your step count. You ever heard about, like, step counter as a pedometer? Mm-mm. Something that, that counts your steps? No, I heard about it, but, uh ... Okay. Well, her Fitbit has a step counter built into it. Oh, nice. And it also has a heart rate monitor built into it. Ooh, that's better yet. Not bad. Mm-hmm. So they've got pretty good technology built into them. Well, when the coroner did Karen's autopsy, they noticed that she was wearing one. Mm. Good. When they pulled it off of her, we could see that the battery was still working, which is good, because that means- Oh, yeah. It's still there ... the data's still there. When we got to a point in the investigation where we were trying to figure out what happened to Karen based on what you had told us, we took that Fitbit, and we actually had it analyzed I will tell you this, that the movement stopped on the 8th of September, that same day that you went over to visit her. Mm-hmm. Okay? I'll also tell you that the heart rate monitor indicated when she passed. Oh. The heart rate monitor indicated that she passed at 3:28. And I was there at 3:28? You were there at 3:28. So Tony, this is, this is kind of my concern. Well- Um, you were there at 3:13, you left at 3:33, but her heart rate went to zero at 3:28 in the afternoon. We need to know what happened. What can I tell you? I have no way to tell you anything. If I was there that long and I don't remember, that's it. I have no answer. Oh, nice. Better yet. He is complimenting the watch. And then he puts the only question that matters, and he puts it as if it were about someone else. And I was there at three twenty-eight. You know, you're, you've been around the block long enough to know. You showed up at 3:13. The Fitbit or the little heart rate monitor showed that she was deceased at 3:28. You left at 3:33. That's chronologically. So it makes me guilty. I'm not here to determine guilt or innocence. I know, but- I'm here to figure out what happened ... according to that, I've got, that I'm guilty. Do you see the problem with that? Do I see a problem? Why can't I say... Well, I don't know what to tell you. Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out, Tony You told us you walked out, walked to your car, and just drove home. Yeah. I did. She was dead for five minutes before you even left the house. At a minimum, actually a minimum of five minutes, because at 3:35 your car is not there. maximum of seven minutes, minimum of five. That's what it boils down to. So you were there for a period of time. I want you to understand that. It's not up for debate. It's not something that I can make up. Oh, of course not. So I'm trying to understand why the things happened. I didn't do it. Never, never. I have a couple of, I have a couple of different theories here- Okay ... as to why- Never, never, never Five minutes. The number he gave on the street becomes the number of minutes she was already dead while his car sat in her driveway. You were physically there in the house at the time I mean, hiding in the other room or something after I left or whatever. Okay. Tony, you're, you're missing the main concern that I have. You are inside the house when she is dead. When her heart rate goes to zero, you are inside the house. How can you explain that? I have no explanation. Tony, do you think that's gonna fly? We're hoping you can explain something to us to tell us why- I have no explanation whatsoever ... Did you ever leave the house during that time and walk outside and leave your car there in the driveway? Somebody hiding in another room. That is explanation number seven, and it is the only one he offers that could be true and still leave him innocent. Notice he offers it about someone else's house, and never says who. So you're, you keep reiterating the fact that she walked you to the door. Yeah. But the problem is- She did ... by that time she's already dead Does any white car just drive by you, honk, and wave? Oh, oh, yes, yes. They do that all the time. Oh, gosh, yeah. How come that doesn't happen to me? I can't say something I didn't do. Never. Ain't no reason in the world Flowers. The roses have come back, and they have moved. In his kitchen they were for Adele, forty years ago. In this room they are two roses Karen handed him at the door, on the afternoon the watch says she was already dead. "I have no idea. She walked me to the door," when I can- Exactly ... absolutely prove that she- Exactly ... didn't walk you to the door because she's already dead. So that, in that, in that light, basically- Who walked me to the door, a devil? Nobody told you- Who gave me those roses, a devil? You walked out the door. You walked out the door by yourself. No, she brought me the roses at the door. I was at the door with her. She said, "Just a minute." She walk over there. She brought, come in with the roses and bring this to Mama. Tony, do roses grow inside or outside? Well, how do I know? don't know. Would you agree that most rose bushes grow outside? Oh, absolutely, we got all kinds of them. So do I. Well, she could've, she could have a bouquet in the house. But she didn't. Like we do. She didn't. Me and my wife have a bouquet of roses in the house all the time. Okay. Karen didn't. Karen didn't have a bouquet of roses. Well, she gave me roses. I'm saying she didn't give you roses, my friend. Oh, yes, she did. You probably took them. No, yeah. Oh, absolutely. That's my wife. I brought it to her That's what she did say. Adele, at the kitchen table, twelve days earlier, said her husband came home with two roses. So either Karen cut them for him in the last minutes of her life, or he cut them himself. The detective does not say which. He does not have to. You are 90 years old. You've been around and you've seen a lot. I truly don't know who you are. I don't know what you're capable of. Here's why I say that. You've been around longer than a lot of our systems maintain records The session moves rooms, and it keeps going. Three hours in, he asks a question he has already been answered. Can you read that? Fitbit. Fitbit. Okay. What's a Fitbit? You know what? I'll be right back. Give me two seconds. Sure. I'm gonna, I'm gonna solve that question. What's a Fitbit? So a Fitbit is a, it looks like a watch. Uh-huh. You know, like a, almost like an iWatch, the Apple Watches or whatever. Yeah, yeah. And you wear it, and it registers, like, your pulse, your heartbeat. Ooh, that's what I need. Yeah. When you sleep, when you walk, how many footsteps you take, and it's, it's really accurate. In fact, the, the timeline of it's very accurate. So, um, so basically you sync it with your phone, and then your phone can also show location, all kinds of things. Yeah. Tracks your sleeping pattern, tells you when you have REM sleep, when you're not sleeping well. And so Karen was wearing a Fitbit when she was murdered. I tell you, these things are very accurate Oh, okay. I understand So Tony, you asked what a Fitbit is. Yeah. That is a Fitbit. Oh, I've never seen one before. Never heard of it. Well- ... I'm gonna show it to you. Looks like a watch, doesn't it? Yeah. It's upside down. This is the inside of the watch. Tony, you see these two little, these two little lights right here? Yeah, yeah. And this little square? Uh-huh. Those are sensors. Ooh. Pretty high tech. Those sensors are what read movement and heartbeat. These two little sensors and that little square box are the way important part in this investigation. Here's why. So here's a report, it's just a screenshot, but it says from September 1st until September 13th. This is what's called steps, okay? And you see on some days, Karen hit 10,000 steps, and that's great. Wow. That's walking a long way. So this right here is September 1st. This is September 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th. Karen walked around on the 8th. But now what I'm gonna do, is I'm gonna turn the page, and we're gonna go to September 8th. Saturday, September 8th. Okay. I didn't make this up. So these are steps, okay? What's a Fitbit. Third time. He was told what it was an hour and a half ago, he said oh, nice, and better yet, and now it is on the table in front of him with the report, and he has never heard of it. That is what forgetting looks like, or what pretending to looks like. The tape cannot tell you which. Neither can I. No, come in Tony, how you doing? Oh, I'm here. Yeah, you s- you're still here, huh? Absolutely. I was hoping to come in the room and you wouldn't be here anymore. What happened? Well, that's what I was hoping Oh, it's coming up on Friday, right? Huh? When is her funeral? This Friday it comes. This Friday. Okay. So- 28 to 2:00 o'clock. Seeing how hard it is for- I believe ... Adele to lose her daughter. I've been there with my son. Yeah. It's tough, right? Oh, yeah. our job is to try and find the answers as to why this thing happened. And, um, initially it- we, we thought maybe it was self-inflicted suicide, but obviously when you start looking at her, she was, she was brutally murdered. And so we, we were trying to find answers, right? And that's where I know my partner's kinda coming at you hard and, yeah. He's got a job to do. He's got- I understand ... he has a job to do. Yeah. I understand. Okay. And it, it... everything we have, it, it, it puts you there, uh, during when, when this happened. If I would've do that, yeah, if I would've do that, I did it. Okay. So that's why we're looking to you kinda like, how do you explain this? How can you explain it? I have no explanation. You have no explanation at all? The other detective. Softer. The funeral is on Friday. He has lost a son himself. My partner is coming at you hard. This is the part of the day where a man who has something to say usually says it. You didn't see any strange cars out there or anything? No. When I... Actually, when I made a turn on the camera, there was a, some guy with the hood on, you know, one of those guys who always got those things on, what do you call it? Coming up this way, but that's not the first time I see people doing that. What'd you say, the camera? Huh? What'd you say? You said, "I saw, I made a turn on the camera." What camera? No, I didn't say camera. Oh. When I made a turn for me to go home. For you to go home. Right. You know Noble? There was a guy about halfway, close to the school over there. Oh, my. That's why there's not been a story about it. With the hood on. But I see a, probably see a lot of those people around walking in the morning. It's called a, a hoodie. Huh? The hoodies. How they have a hoodie up? Yeah. It's called a hoodie. That's right. Yeah, a hoodie. Yeah, yeah. Well, a lot of people have those on. Yeah. Don't mean nothing. People walking all the time all over there A man in a hood, on the way home. Explanation number ten. Nobody asks about him again, and neither does he. You ever call Karen on her cell phone? Me? No. No. Always just by the house phone? Well, all the... No, I never did. Her mother does. Adele does, right. When I'm gonna bring her something over here, her mother calls her, "Tony's coming over." Yeah. That's it. Is Adele pretty upset? Huh? Is she upset? Adele. When she calls her? No, no, no. Right now, is she pretty upset? Well, she must be. No question about it. Okay. What does she tell you? That my house-- what I even told you. Since I left this morning. Mm-hmm. But I mean before that. Before that? Yesterday, the day before. Did you guys talk about this at all? Oh, we cry all the time. Cry all the time. We just hug each other. What does she think happened? Never said anything. I never thought of anything. This morning, I was supposed to go over there and water the lawn and the garden in the back, and that's the-- Adele had called somebody and said, "As long as you don't go into the house, you can go in the backyard and water or whatever." So that's what I was going to do. Hey, Tony, I just, uh, I talked to some of the folks that are out searching your house right now. Oh, good. They found some stuff that's kinda concerning. You have a clothes hamper there. Huh? You have a clothes hamper at the house. Hamper? Clothes hamper, where you put dirty clothes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Um, they found a shirt real similar to the one that you're wearing now, except it's... doesn't have as many stripes in it. It's got blood all over the front of it. No. It's this one here. No. Yeah. That's your shirt in your house. Here, here's the other problem. Um, in that same hamper, there's another white T-shirt. Looks like the same T-shirt that you're wearing there. Yeah. A t-shirt. That you're wearing right now Now, given what we know and given the splatter that we saw, I don't think you've seen these yet 'cause this just came in hot off the press. Uh, those spot patterns are probably the same spot patterns that we see at the scene. Now, here's what's gonna happen, and I wanna make sure that you understand this. These blood spots on these shirt, they tested presumptive positive, by the way, um, they're gonna be compared at the Santa Clara County Crime Lab. There was blood taken from your stepdaughter. Mm-hmm. They're gonna compare the blood on that T-shirt with your stepdaughter's. And here's what's gonna happen, and I want you to understand this, 'cause these people are really freaking smart, okay? They have more degrees than I have fingers and toes. They're probably gonna come back and say, "This blood looks like Karen's." I would venture a guess based on what I know. But here's your story Oh, good. The police are searching his house, and he says oh, good. Then the shirts. Two of them, from the hamper, with small red-brown spots down the front. The report describes the pattern as spatter, not a smear. His answer, over the next hour, is that he bleeds. Question is, whose blood is it? I don't know. Is it your blood? I don't know about you, but- Many times I get cut ... when I cut myself and, and I get blood on something, I know. I can remember when I did it. I can remember if I cut, if I cut myself- Oh, it isn't one week, it isn't one week that I get chopped. I can't even touch myself that I bleed. Okay, so do you think that blood on your shirt is from- I have no idea ... your own? I have no idea. It's a pretty good amount of blood. I have no idea, my friend, believe me. I'm not trying to hide anything. I'm not trying to save anybody's ... But whatever, I don't know. Many times I've cut myself and I'm shaking my hand and now they'll have to patch me up. Many, many times So, so it is enough to cover both? I'm so, I'm so, I'm so easy to bleeding since I got this blood situation. Oh, I get it. Yeah. 'Cause I know people on the, you know, blood thinners. I can't stop bleeding. I get it. Oh, Even if I, if I go that way and hit the knob door over there- Mm-hmm ... I scratch it, I'm bleeding right now. I'm surprised that this hasn't happened yet I did not do it Well, who did? I don't know Tony, are you trying to protect someone? I mean- No, I'm not trying to protect anybody Is it, is it, is it- I'm saying, I'm saying the truth Is Adelle involved? Adelle? Is she involved in this? No. Was she with you in the house? No, of course not. I went alone. She could only want- But there, there is a sink in the converted garage, or off the converted garage. Is that correct? There's a half a bathroom. Okay. Well, there's blood in that sink. Help, help, help me, Tony. Yeah. Dude. Did you go hunting recently where you gutted some- No, I haven't hunted in a while ... some birds? Okay. No. Tony, it's kind of, it's kind of odd. It's gotta be- I've cut myself many a time, but, uh- Okay. Tony, put yourself in our shoes right now. I understand Did you tell her about all this? Did you tell her what happened? Yeah, I told her. I had seen Adele. You've seen Adele. You saw her this morning. Does Adele know that you were responsible for this? No. Why should she know? I don't know. Maybe you had a sit down heart to heart with her and told her you were sorry. I don't know. Crazier things have happened. Why should I go tell her a thing like that that I'm not? I can't get past all the little white lies, Tony. I can't Well, I don't-- to you they're white lies. To me they're not Fair enough. Everybody's got their perspective, and I get it. I'm just trying to put together a murder of a 68-year-old woman that was most likely committed by you I understand I mean, this, we have all this stuff now starting to pile up and you, you're denying everything and there's no explanation for any of it. We're just trying to figure it out. We wanna bring closure to this for Adele And she gave me the two roses. She told-- I was at the door. She told the wait-- she, she walked in or wherever she went to pick up two roses Blood in the garage sink. Blood in the bedroom sink. The affidavit says both lit up under the chemical the lab uses. He says he cuts himself at least once a week. To you they're white lies. To me they're not. That is the version where a ninety-year-old man signs a form and a patrolman drives him home. It is not what happens. I am serious as I can be. You are going to jail tonight. Oh, no. what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna fill out some paperwork, and at some point in time, once we can get a patrolman over here, we're gonna have you transported over and booked into the Santa Clara County Jail. I'm kidding. You're gonna be booked for homicide, for murder. You are kidding. Look at my face. Do you think I'm kidding? I'm looking at your face. You're going to jail tonight. There is no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Well, I have no say, so as far as that goes. That's correct. I'm here. The reason why you're going to jail is because there is no explanation for all these things, all these things that point to you being responsible. But you have no test that fits our blood. I didn't do it. I didn't do it. I don't know what happened. No idea I didn't do it. I did not do it. Not me. Yeah, I'm done with this world. No. I'm done with this world. He is ninety. He has been in the room for most of a day. His wife is at home, and at some point that afternoon somebody tells her. They've also told Adele what's going on. They've explained to Adele that you're be-being booked for murder, for murdering her daughter Late in the day the lead detective tries one more thing. He asks him to switch chairs. If you were me, what would you do? If I were you? Mm-hmm. If we exchanged spots right now, what would you do if you were in my shoes? I can't answer that 'cause I could never be in your shoes. Let's just say for the sake of argument, you were in my shoes. Let's just say for just this fleeting moment in time, you were a policeman, and you were investigating the death of Karen Navarro, and you were presented with the same facts and circumstances, the same documents, the same videos, the same pictures. If you were in my shoes, what would you think? You don't know if those spots are her blood or are pig blood. Do you? No. But what would you think? I would do whatever is right. So what is right? I don't know what is right. What is it for you? If a person is proven guilty, he's, he's guilty. Like I've told you about 10 times, I am not here to judge your guilt or innocence. I know. I am here to find the truth. Yeah. The truth is those spots are blood. They are, but- But hold on. I can't tell you whose blood they are yet. Yet. Yet. Find out what blood is that. But that doesn't change the fact that I need to do my job, right? Oh, no, of course not. So you would agree, I would assume, that the smart thing would be to take you to the Santa Clara County Jail and book you, correct? That's what you have to do. That's what you gotta do. Would you do the same thing, given the same facts and circumstances? If I was in your boots, I would. Okay. Of course. You got a job to do, and perform the job whatever is right. I try to do the best that I can- You're doing it ... with the information that I have and try to do the best that I can. You're doing it. Ain't no question about it. All right, sir. Okay. Where do we go from here? Go to the county jail, right? Yeah, in a little bit. Um, we have to have some people come in- That's what you have to do. He agrees with the man who is about to book him for murder. It is the most agreeable thing anyone says all day. I know I'm saying the truth. I think about the truth. That's, uh, what it shows That's what I have to go on, Tony. Of course. That's your job. It is. It doesn't matter who gets hurt. I'm just trying to find the truth, man. But usually eventually the truth, it comes to light. It does. It does, sooner or later. And sincerely, I hope for your sake, that's not Karen's blood. Because if it is- I don't think so ... If it is, Tony- I'm done. You could say that. Yeah, I'm done Anything else, sir? No. Mm-mm. What can I say? Thank you, gentlemen. And, uh, I made the best out of it. Fair enough. What's to be is to be. I agree. And see what tomorrow brings. Do you want any more of your burrito, or are you all done? No, no more? It's no good. All right, we'll get rid of it. They're not my type. All right, Tony. If you need anything, just knock on the door. We'll clear this out. Thank you very much. You're welcome, sir. I'll leave your water with you. If you need anything else- Yeah. Thank you ... just knock, let us know. I didn't do it. I did not do it. I would never That is the only thing he says to nobody. Seven seconds after the door closes. Never. Go and rotate your hand for me just a little bit Those are from the handcuffs All right. Today, after I closed it First time we handcuffed somebody in the front, Mm-hmm. It's always a first time. Usually does not work this way. All right, so you're gonna follow my instructions. We're gonna walk out of the building, we're gonna go into my car, then I'm gonna transport you, okay? Yeah, got you. All right, so you're gonna go and walk out to the right. Come on out here, son. Come with me. Oh, pardon me. Uh, I'm parked where the deputy chief parks his car. He was arraigned on the fourth of October on one count of murder with the personal use of a deadly weapon. His lawyer told the court there was a cigarette butt at the scene, and neither his client nor his stepdaughter smoked. He pleaded not guilty the following April, from a wheelchair, with a hearing device, and blew a kiss to his family on the way out. In August a criminal grand jury indicted him. By then his daughter was telling reporters he could no longer eat or dress himself. Every day, she said, he would say, I'm here another day, and smile about it. He never explained the twenty minutes. Not to the detectives, not to a judge, not to a jury, because there never was one. The cigarette butt his lawyer mentioned was never tied to anybody. The shirts went to the crime lab. The result is not in the public record, and the affidavit that put him in this room does not need it. The car in the driveway and the watch on her wrist were enough for a judge to sign. On the tenth of September, twenty nineteen, a year and two days after Karen, Anthony Aiello died in the county hospital. He was ninety-one. The charge was dismissed. There was never a trial, and there was never a verdict. Adele outlived them both. She died in twenty twenty-two, at ninety-six. Five minutes. Or twenty-one. Her watch says one thing, and he said the other until the day he died. Which clock do you believe.